Leash attachment system for dog collar or harness

ABSTRACT

A dog leash attachment system for selectively and releasably attaching a dog leash to a dog collar or harness, wherein the dog leash and the dog collar or dog harness each comprises a portion of a fastener device further comprising at least one magnetic attachment component and at least one mechanical attachment component. One portion of the fastener device is attached in fixed relation to the dog leash at a position proximal to the distal end of the dog leash. Another magnet is disclosed for use in maintaining a portion of the fastener device proximally to the collar or harness when the leash is not in use.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a dog leash attachment system for use with adog collar or a dog harness. The dog leash attachment system desirablycomprises a quick-release fastener device that further comprises twocooperatively configured, selectively attachable halves. One half of thesubject fastener device is desirably attached in substantially fixedrelation to a dog collar or dog harness, and the other half is desirablyattached in substantially fixed relation to the leash. Each half of thedog leash attachment system desirably comprises a magnetic component anda mechanical component that are cooperatively configured and selectivelyengageable with the magnetic component and the mechanical component ofthe other half. The magnetic component of one half is desirablyattracted to the magnetic component of the other half and facilitatesrapid hook-up of the leash to the dog collar or dog harness, and themechanical components strengthen the connection between the leash andthe dog collar or dog harness to resist unintended separation duringuse.

Another aspect of the invention relates to a dog collar or a dog harnesshaving a portion of a quick-release fastener device that furthercomprises a magnetic component and either the female or male portion ofa mechanical component. The dog collar or dog harness is desirably usedin combination with a dog leash having a distal end comprising anoppositely configured portion of the quick-release fastener device thatis magnetically attracted to and selectively engageable with anddisengageable from the portion attached to the dog collar or dogharness.

Still another aspect of the invention relates to a dog collar or harnesseach also having another magnetic component attracted to the magneticcomponent of the portion of the quick-release fastener device that isselectively engageable with and disengageable from the leash configuredas above. Whenever a dog collar or dog harness is equipped with thisadditional magnetic component, the magnetic attraction between the twomagnetic components of the dog collar or dog harness can prevent thefree end of the disengaged portion of the quick-release fastener devicefrom flopping around when detached from the leash. In some cases theadditional magnetic component can increase the range of magneticattraction between the dog collar or dog harness and the leash,depending upon the configuration and physical arrangement of themagnetic components used.

Still another aspect of the invention relates to a leash having oneportion of a fastener device that is selectively and releasablyattachable to a cooperatively configured portion of a fastener deviceattached to a dog collar or a dog harness and also having one portion ofanother similarly configured fastener device that is attachable to aportion of a cooperatively configured fastener device attached in fixedor releasable relation to another object such as, for example, a carrierfor dog refuse bags.

2. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

Many types of attachment devices are previously disclosed for use inreleasably attaching one end of a dog leash to a dog collar or harness.Most use a snap ring or clasp that is attachable to a mounting ringdisposed on a dog collar or harness. None is known to include thecombination of elements embodied in the present invention.

Fidlock GmbH of Hannover, Germany has previously disclosed fastenertechnology that is said to be highly reliable, robust and secure. Somesuch fasteners use neodymium magnets combined with stable mechanicallocking. One such fastener device is the Fidlock “Hook 20 flat sewable”fastener that integrates magnets and a hook in an extraordinary slimprofile and boasts an extremely low fastener height. This product issaid to be particularly suitable for applications that require slimfasteners, such as sports watches, clothing and other textile productsand is attachable to webbing that can be sewn or otherwise attached insubstantially fixed relation to a dog collar or dog harness. No prioruse of such combination magnetic and mechanical fastener devices forconnecting dog collars or dog harnesses to leashes is known.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment of the invention, a dog leash attachment system isdisclosed that comprises a fastener device with cooperating male andfemale portions each having in combination both a magnetic component anda mechanical component. One half of the fastener device is desirablysewn to or otherwise attached in substantially fixed relation to a dogcollar or a dog harness in such manner that the attached portion is notdangling or obtrusive when the collar or harness is being worn by a dogwithout attachment to a dog leash. The dog leash attachment system ofthe invention desirably further comprises an oppositely andcooperatively configured second half of the fastener device that isattached in substantially fixed and cooperating relation at or near thedistal end of a dog leash to facilitate rapid attachment of the dogleash to and release of the dog leash from the collar or harness. Asused herein, the “distal end” of a dog leash refers to the end of thedog leash that is nearer to the dog, and the “proximal end” of a dogleash refers to the end of the dog leash that is held by a personcontrolling the dog. According to another embodiment of the invention,the half of the subject fastener device that is attachable to a dogcollar or dog harness can be configured and disposed so that themagnetic component holds the mechanical component close to the dogcollar or dog harness whenever a leash is not attached.

Similarly, in another embodiment of the invention, a dog leashattachment system is disclosed in which a male or female portion of asecond combination magnetic and mechanical fastener device is desirablysewn or otherwise attached in substantially fixed relation to a dogleash in a position that is spaced apart from the distal end of theleash. The spaced apart portion of the second fastener device comprisingboth a magnetic component and a mechanical component is useful forattaching an auxiliary item such as, for example, a key ring, storagepouch or carrier for pet refuse bags to the dog leash, which auxiliaryitem is also desirably provided with an oppositely and cooperativelyconfigured portion of a fastener device that is selectively andreleasably attachable to the portion of the second fastener deviceattached to said dog leash.

The provision and use of a dog leash attachment system comprising afastener device having two halves with a combination of magnetic andmechanical components affords the user the convenience of quickattachment of the cooperatively configured magnetic components and thestrength and resistance to separation that is made possible by thecooperatively configured mechanical components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The apparatus of the invention is further described and explained inrelation to the following drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a collar made in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention fastened around the neck of a dog and shownwith the distal end portion of a leash made in accordance with oneembodiment of the invention disposed in a position proximal to but notyet fastened to the collar;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one half of a combination magnetic andmechanical fastener device suitable for use in one embodiment of the dogleash attachment system of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a dog collar equipped with one half of acombination magnetic and mechanical fastener device suitable for use inone embodiment of the dog leash attachment system of the invention andfurther comprising a magnetic component positioned to attract and holdthe fastener component flat against the collar when not attached to aleash; and

FIG. 4 a perspective view as in FIG. 1 except that a dog harness issubstituted for the dog collar.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, collar 10 is typically a conventionalstrap-type dog collar made of a material such as woven nylon and havinga conventional “snap” buckle. The buckle is not visible in FIG. 1 but isshown in FIG. 3 and is approximately diametrically opposed to tab 14(visible in FIGS. 1 and 2), which is desirably made of flexible webbingabout 20 mm in width that is permanently sewn onto dog collar 10. Asshown in FIGS. 1-3, tab 14 is desirably looped through a slot providedon one end of a female half 12 of a combination magnetic and mechanicalfastener device that further comprises male half 16 as shown in FIG. 1.It will be appreciated in relation to FIG. 2 that female half 12 can bepivoted relative to tab 14 sewn to dog collar 10 unless somehowrestrained either prior to or subsequent to attachment of female half 12to leash 18 (FIG. 1). Male half 16 of the combination magnetic andmechanical fastener device also desirably comprises a fabric tab (liketab 14) of flexible webbing that is sewn onto the distal end of dogleash 18, the proximal (handle or hand loop) end of which is unnecessaryto disclosure of the invention and is broken away for illustrativepurposes.

Female half 12 and male half 16 of the fastener device each desirablycomprises a magnetic component that is preferably a rare earth magnetconfigured and disposed so that halves 12 and 16 are magneticallyattracted to each other with sufficient holding force to assist inbringing them together during the process of attaching dog leash 18 todog collar 10. This magnetic attraction facilitates positioning andtemporarily holding halves 12 and 16 so that the respective male andfemale portions of halves 16 and 12 can be mechanically engaged by theuse of cooperatively disposed engagement tabs to provide a mechanicalinterlock that is stronger than the magnetic attraction between halves16, 12 and that resists physical separation of halves 16, 12 for so longas any strain is exerted axially along leash 18 by the dog. At a latertime when the user decides to disconnect leash 18 from dog collar 10,the mechanical coupling is quickly releasable by rotating male half 16relative to female half 12 of the combination magnetic and mechanicalfastener device to a position where only the magnetic attraction betweenmale and female halves 16, 12 is holding them together. This remainingholding force is then easily overcome when the user manually pulls thedistal end of dog leach 18 away from dog collar 10. One satisfactoryfastener device suitable for use in making the dog leash attachmentsystem of the invention is a commercially available “Fidlock 20” brandcombination fastener device having magnetic and mechanical holdingcomponents and also having flexible tabs of fabric or webbing that canbe sewn to a dog leash 18 or dog collar as seen in FIGS. 1-3. It will beappreciated, however, that other similarly effective devices functioningsubstantially as described above can also be used in making the dogleash attachment system of the invention.

Referring again to FIG. 1, leash 18 also optionally comprises anotherfemale half 20 of another combination magnetic and mechanical fastenerdevice of the invention that is sewn onto leash 18. Female half 20 isprovided for use in selectively and releasably attaching to dog leash 18another auxiliary component such as, for example, a key ring, a carrierfor pet waste refuse bags, or a storage pouch for miscellaneous otheritems that each comprise a cooperatively configured half of acombination fastener device having magnetic and mechanical components asdiscussed above.

Referring again to FIG. 3, another magnetic component 15 can be attachedto dog collar 10 if desired to hold female half 12 of the combinationfastener device against the underlying outside surface of dog collar 10whenever female half 12 is not attached to male half 12 that is attachedto dog collar 10. Magnet 15 is desirably permanently secured to collar10, and can be attached to either surface or disposed inside a pocket inthe material of dog collar 10 as desired. A principal benefit of usingmagnet 15 is that it keeps female half 12 of the collar from floppingaround when leash 18 isn't attached.

Referring to FIG. 4, another female half 24 of a fastener device 32 isdisclosed in relation to dog harness 28, with tab 30 being sewn onto onestrap of the harness. As with the embodiment disclosed in relation toFIGS. 1-3, male half 26 of the associated combination magnetic andmechanical fastener device is permanently attached, again by sewing inthis embodiment, to the distal end of dog leash 25, and female half 22for use with an auxiliary component is shown attached to dog leash 25 ina position that is spaced apart from male half 26.

Other alterations and modifications of the invention will likewisebecome apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading thisspecification in view of the accompanying drawings, and it is intendedthat the scope of the invention disclosed herein be limited only by thebroadest interpretation of the appended claims to which the inventorand/or Applicant are legally entitled,

What is claimed is:
 1. A dog leash attachment system for selectively andreleasably attaching a dog leash to a dog collar, the system comprising,a dog leash further comprising a distal end and a first portion of afastener device attached in fixed relation to the dog leash near thedistal end, the first portion of the fastener device further comprisingat least one magnetic attachment component and at least one mechanicalattachment component; and a dog collar further comprising a buckle and asecond portion of a fastener device attached in fixed relation to thedog collar and spaced apart from the buckle, the second portion of thefastener device further comprising at least one magnetic attachmentcomponent and a least one mechanical attachment component.
 2. The dogleash attachment system of claim 1 wherein the first portion and thesecond portion are cooperatively configured to be magnetically attachedwhen cooperatively aligned in proximal relation to each other and tosubsequently become mechanically attached when the first portion and thesecond portion are pressed into engagement with each other whilemagnetically attached.
 3. The dog leash attachment system of claim 2wherein the mechanical attachment between the first portion and thesecond portion provides a greater holding force than the magneticattachment between them when the dog leash is subjected to a puffingforce between a dog and a user.
 4. The dog leash attachment system ofclaim 1 further comprising part of an additional fastener device furthercomprising in combination at least one magnetic attachment component andat least one mechanical attachment component for use in attaching anauxiliary component to the dog leash.
 5. The dog leash attachment systemof claim 1 wherein the dog collar further comprises an additionalmagnetic component configured and positioned to be magnetically attachedto the second portion of the fastener device whenever the dog leash isnot attached to the second portion of the fastener device to hold thesecond portion of the fastener device proximally to the dog collar. 6.The dog leash attachment system of claim 1 wherein the dog leash furthercomprises a portion of a second fastener device disposed in spaced apartrelation to the distal end of the leash.
 7. A dog leash attachmentsystem for selectively and releasably attaching a dog leash to a dogharness, the system comprising; a dog leash further comprising a distalend and a first portion of a fastener device attached in fixed relationto the dog leash near the distal end, the first portion of the fastenerdevice further comprising at least one magnetic attachment component andat least one mechanical attachment component; and a dog harness furthercomprising a buckle and a second portion of a fastener device attachedin fixed relation to the dog harness and spaced apart from the buckle,the second portion of the fastener device further comprising at leastone magnetic attachment component and a least one mechanical attachmentcomponent.
 8. The dog leash attachment system of claim 7 wherein thefirst portion and the second portion are cooperatively configured to bemagnetically attached when cooperatively aligned in proximal relation toeach other and to subsequently become mechanically attached when thefirst portion and the second portion are pressed into engagement witheach other while magnetically attached.
 9. The dog leash attachmentsystem of claim 8 wherein the mechanical attachment between the firstportion and the second portion provides a greater holding force than themagnetic attachment between them when the dog leash is subjected to apuffing force between a dog and a user.
 10. The dog leash attachmentsystem of claim 7 further comprising part of an additional fastenerdevice further comprising in combination at least one magneticattachment component and at least one mechanical attachment componentfor use in attaching an auxiliary component to the dog leash.
 11. Thedog leash attachment system of claim 7 wherein the dog harness furthercomprises an additional magnetic component configured and positioned tobe magnetically attached to the second portion of the fastener devicewhenever the dog leash is not attached to the second portion of thefastener device to hold the second portion of the fastener deviceproximally to the dog harness.
 12. The dog leash attachment system ofclaim 7 wherein the dog leash further comprises a portion of a secondfastener device disposed in spaced apart relation to the distal end ofthe leash.